As an expert group, members of the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners have four building blocks upon which to build public trust, Tom Hockin told the founding convention of the CIFPs in Huntsville, Ont. Tuesday morning.

Hockin, who is president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada as well as the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning, the sponsoring member of the CIFPs, told members public trust consists of three parts: client trust; collegial trust; and government trust.

“If we consistently demonstrate to the matrix of regulators that we are investing and leading in setting the ‘gold standard’ for our profession, they will continue to come to CIFPs for advice on minimum appropriate regulation, rather than setting up back-breaking regulations.”

The first way to gain public trust, Hockin says, is through research, state-of-the-art financial products and services and knowledge about personal financial planning.

The second way is to put client interest “before your own through transparency on fees and other like matters, instead of being forced to because of regulatory bureaucracy.”

The third building block is being a meeting place — “for the essential human joy of being with other people who are good at what they do.” The fourth is defining the overall public interest in partnership with other stakeholders.

“The initiatives we take in building the four blocks of public trust can give CIFPs members the competitive edge,” Hockin says.